Rough Green Snake

[SteveJor]

Hello all, I'm new here and was looking for some info from people with first hand experience with these snakes.
I have a small enclosure (16x16x20) that I was thinking about using to house one. It is made out of black acrylic with a vented screen top and a clear acrylic hinged door.
Is this too small for this type of snake?
I used to have a RTB so I have some experience keeping snakes.
Does anyone keep one of these?
The stores around here are terrible regarding advice on any animals.
One place told me they were venomous and therefore they would not get it for me. Another told me I would need an enclosure with these dimensions since these snakes get huge. Their $750 recommended custom cage was 36x36x48. The last place I tried supposedly specializes in reptiles. They could get one by special order and recommended a 170 gallon reptarium as the enclosure. Three stores and 3 totally different opinions.
As you can see, I am not getting good advice and was hoping someone here could help.
Thanks.


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[telefrag]

Welcome to redtailboa.net (hey, thats the first time Iv'e said that)

As long as it is not a very large animal that cage would do ok, it will eventually appreciate something a little larger,
but be sure to provide adequate lighting, many have said that Green snakes do better with full spectrum lighting, and plenty of climbing branches.
Also, make sure that the ssp your want to keep is not protected, the smooth greensnake is protected in some states.
But the rough, as far as I know is not protected yet in most states, so make sure you adhere to local laws.

Good luck!
[addsig]

I don't believe the RGS gets much bigger than 44". So at adult size, a slightly larger cage would be required, but not much. These snakes are highly arboreal, so they'd benefit from a tall cage as well. They are mostly invertebrate eaters, so you'll probably need to dust their food with vitamins. I have heard they don't make the best captives. I think I have an old book on their husbandry somewhere, I'll see if I can find it...
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	Arboreal Arboreal is a word meaning "related to or resembling trees". Its meaning comes from the Latin arbor, meaning tree.<br> In biology, an arboreal animal is one which inhabits or spends large amounts of time in trees or bushes.

[telefrag]

thanks J, forgot about that,
there are lots of people that havent had too good of luck with them, but the few that I have kept for any length of time did farily well. I provided them with full spectrum flourescent lights as well as a low wattage spot lamp for basking, I would throw a small ficus tree , and some pothos ivy, and kept about a dozen crickets at a time in there.
Since they are insectivores, they have high metabolisms and require food nearly everyday, as would most insect eating lizards.

Hey J,
guess what.....






Boogers [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
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[JuliusSqueezer]

Venomous? LOL...they musta seen a pic of a green mamba somewhere and got really confused.
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[JC86]

Well I can see how some dumbarse could get a Rough Green and a Green Tree Viper mixed up...actually one of my fears in bying this snake =P


But let's see...


"The Rough Green Snake is a small and very gentle species...can grow to approximately 36 inches...are not the easiest of snakes to find at specialist pet stores but this speciies is well worth asking about and looking for...they can be kept in groups or on their own (are a social species)...enjoy temps in the range of 74-77 degrees F...should be housed in a vivarium measuring at least 36x15x15 inches...a low ultraviolet output pet tube should also be included in the vivarium to maintain ur pet's health...eat spiders and insects and/or small lizards and small frogs so a varied diet is reccommended..feed as much as it will eat several times a week...and when large enough try feeding a pinkie every once in a while because they are very nutritious..."


Those are excerpts from Barron's Unusual Pets: Keeping Snakes, copyright 2000. This is a great book btw for people new to snake keeping, most of the info in it matches everything I've read on RTB.net, and it's nice and colorful.

Hope that helped!

Scott
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[Ophiophagus-hannah]

Welcome to RTB!!! Good luck in your findings of your future snake!
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[SteveJor]

Thanks for the nice welcome.

Telefrag,
Snakes native to my state are illegal to keep so the smooth green is out. The rough green is allowed. My first choice was a ringneck but since one type appears in CT, they are all illegal to keep. One good thing is even though these are difficult snakes to house, at least the rough green seems to be the better choice as far are getting it to acclimate.

JuliusSqueezer,
Yeah, they told me it was venemous. Shows how much some places actually know.

JC86,
Thanks for the info. Very helpful. The temps mentioned are lower than than I had though. don't want to fry the poor thing. I had planned on keeping it about 80 to 85. Looks like I'll be re-planning the heating aspect. Pinkies huh. Didn't think they could eat something that large.

BTW, does anyone know where I might be able to locate a CB one? I know it's a long shot but I would prefer that over a wild caught one.

Thanks again for the help.
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[Shadrach]

Hey Check out www.reptileshack.com they have green snake's for $12.00! Not sure if it's the smooth or rough though?
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[darkrage]

i'd house a pair in a 29T gallon tank. They're not very hardy and they're so thin that it's almost impossible to handle them.

I think LLL has some for sale. You could call them and ask if they're cb. I doubt it though.



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[SteveJor]

Thanks for the link Shadrach. That's the rough green. I wish they listed a size. It's a wild caught one. I'll give them a call and see if I can get more info from them. $12 isn't too bad. Just wondering about shipping. The place that said they could order one for me is charging $20 for a juvenile.
I would like the smallest possible. I don't want to try and acclimate a wild caught adult. It may not make the transition to captivity.
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